With her eighth-grade graduation just behind her, Whittney Mitchell-Rogers will celebrate the next chapter in her life with a “coming out” ceremony at Redbird’s Children of Many Colors Powwow at Moorpark College this weekend.

“A coming out ceremony is where you give gifts to those who helped and guided you throughout your youth as a thank you,” explained Whittney’s mom, Betty Rogers, of Bakersfield. “It signifies that you are committed to the community in a physical and spiritual way.”

Whittney, 14, has attended the annual powwow for as long as she can remember. Born visually impaired, she was diagnosed with septo-optic dysplasia, which means she has no optic nerves, and the midline nerve of her brain is underdeveloped.

“My favorite thing about the powwow is the drums — I enjoy hearing them,” said Whittney, who just graduated from Beardsley Junior High in Bakersfield. “I also like the way the bells sound as the dancers go around the circle…. I can identify the male dancers from the women's jingle dress dancers.”

For her coming out ceremony, Whittney will wear a skirt, a plain T-shirt and moccasins. She will also be wrapped in a shawl and will carry a fan, and she will be wearing beadwork that her mother made.

“It will be about me no longer being a child and acting more as an adult,” said Whittney, who will also give gifts to those who taught her about Native American traditions.

“I will also be doing a candy and toy toss for the kids,” she said. “I would like to give back.”

The powwow starts Friday with an open flute circle at 6 p.m. On Saturday, the first of three gourd dances will begin at 11 a.m., followed by the grand entry, when all the dancers enter the arena together. Dancing will continue until 10 p.m. on Saturday, then will resume on Sunday with a veterans honoring ceremony at 11 a.m.

During the powwow, about 30 vendors will be selling arts and crafts, including jewelry from Arizona and New Mexico, and traditional Hopi and Navajo silver pieces and Pueblo pottery.

Cultural continuity means the active, living practice of the principles, traditions and skills of one's tribal heritage, she said.

“Creating a sustainable future means living in a way that acknowledges our impact on the planet and considers the world we will leave for the next seven generations yet unborn,” Roberts said.

“From the Dakota Access and Keystone Pipelines to the Paris Agreement, we are abandoning sustainability on a grand scale,” she noted. “So our work is particularly important now, as we look to our native youth as the ones who will have to lead us all back to a path of balance and right action.”

The children coming of age now are the ones who will inherit the political and financial system presently unfolding, Roberts said.

“They will need to be squarely grounded in who they are and why it matters,” Roberts said. “And they will need to be educated in order to be agents of change.”

The powwow is made possible with the support of the Native American community and funding from local, state and federal arts organizations. Over the years, its co-sponsors have included the National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council, Ventura County Community Foundation via the Barbara Barnard Smith Fund for World Musics, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and the Moon Family Trust

“Our partnership with Moorpark College is a critical sponsorship,” Roberts said.

This year marks Redbird’s 17th powwow, with 14 of them having taken place at Moorpark College.

“We are very interested in supporting Native American history and culture, and in becoming a destination college for Native American students,” said Luis Sanchez, president of Moorpark College. “This annual powwow is a rich cultural event for our community, and we are grateful that it is held at our college, in an area that was once richly inhabited by Native Americans.”

Rogers, whose Native American background is Tsalagi and Choctaw, said her husband, Ronald, has been involved with the powwow circuit since he was 13 years old.

The Children of Many Colors Powwow “has a warm and welcoming environment where you feel free to be yourself,” Rogers said. “You can learn a lot from just watching what is happening around you. They welcome anyone … they treat everyone with respect, from the tiny tots to the elders.”